Belfry Group secures £4.5m Salix Homes green technology deal

SALFORD: A building services company has won a record contract worth £4.5m to install its green technology in tower blocks in Salford.

Warrington-based Belfry Group has agreed a deal with Salix Homes to fit its EcoPod heating system in eight properties across the city.

The EcoPod, which took two-and-a-half years and £1m investment to develop, was invented by Keith Rimmer, managing director of Belfry. It uses a combination of biomass boilers and solar panels which are incorporated into a self-contained system that can be retro-fitted to existing buildings.

Belfry said it will help to reduce the buildings' carbon emissions by more than 40 per cent while some residents can also expect to see their energy bills cut by a similar amount.

Joe Grundy, spokesman for Salix Homes, said: "Belfry carried out a partial installation at one of our properties last year and, based on the savings that it has delivered, we have decided to roll it out to some of our other properties.

"We are converting these additional blocks from full electric so the benefits we will get from switching to EcoPods will enable is to tackle fuel poverty head on."

Mr Rimmer said: "The EcoPod doesn't simply reduce energy costs and carbon emissions, there are numerous other benefits which can help to save time and money. "There's a big reduction in the cost of landlord's gas safety checks, for instance, because they no longer need to be carried out in every apartment.

"In addition, there's no service and individual breakdown costs to worry about, and the risk of gas within the apartments has also been eliminated."

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